Moon Light Among the Leaves
by ArtisticFairy
Summary: Atsui Hisakata is a young aspiring kunoichi of the Hidden Moon Village. Despite living with her violent, alcoholic uncle, she manages to live a good life, and working to better herself as a shinobi. Here is the first chapter to her story. An OC Story
1. Chapter 1

"You'll never catch me!" She gleefully shouted back to her father, as he made a failed attempt at scooping her up.

"Oh just you wait little Miss Atsui Hisakata! I'll get you yet!" He playfully replied back as he got up off the ground; Ready to continue his pursuit after her.

Atsui took off running again but had to think fast. She thought back to academy class this morning. They had just started covering the basics of what to do when being followed by the enemy. First thing was to find and an adequate hiding spot then asses the situation from there.

She looked around and spotted a rather large tree to hide behind. In one swift movement, she shifted her course and swung around the trunk and landed on other side of the tree. Almost immediately after situating herself, she placed her hand to her mouth and held her breath remembering the next words of her sensei: 'After you have successfully done that, you must remain silent. Even the slightest sound could alert the enemy as to your position. It is imperative that you remain absolutely quiet when in hiding'.

Her father came running up into an empty grove of trees and quickly scanned the area, but saw no trace of his said prey.

"Oh Atsui!" he chimed, hoping to get a response from his usually 'quiet challenged' daughter.

Atsui remained silent though. She wasn't about to blow her cover. She peeked around, but saw the direction of his glance shifting towards her and whipped her head back around.

"I know you're here, you silly thing." He sang out again, but still no response. After a few more minutes of silence, a rather confused look came to his face as he began to scratch the back of his head.

Atsui peeked again and had to stifle back a few escaping giggles. Her dad always looked so funny when he was confused.

"Hmm, maybe she really isn't here. Guess she made a dash for the village instead." He muttered aloud to himself and quickly darted in the direction of civilization.

After she was sure he had left, she crawled out from behind the tree and stood watching in the direction her father had left. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty for tricking him. He might get worried when he didn't find her there. It would probably be best to catch up to him and let him know she was okay. She didn't even make it one step, when suddenly a huge shadow surrounded her. A jolt of panic shot through her mind. She twisted around only to come face to face with the owner of the ominous darkness. She closed her eyes and let out a yelp, expecting the worst.

"Geeze, didn't know I was that scary."

That voice, it was her dad's. She slowly opened up her eyes and looked up into his heart warming smile.

"Daddy! Don't scare me like that! I thought you were an enemy!" She cried leaping up to cling to his arm for comfort.

Now he was the one feeling guilty.

"Oh, I didn't mean to spook you that bad. You gonna be okay my lil' moon beam?" he cooed as he pulled her into a hug.

"I…I think so…but…" She asked quivering.

"Yeah? What is it sweetheart?" he asked releasing her so he could talk to her.

"How is it you were still here? I saw you head for the village." She asked quizzically.

Her father couldn't help but smile. He always seemed to do that when she asked him questions. He told her it was because she always kept an open mind, which was a very useful tool as a shinobi.

"Oh that's easy" he laughed and pointed to the route he had 'taken' earlier.

Atsui looked in shock as an exact copy of her dad came slinking up. This 'dad' gave a wave to her and suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"A shadow clone!" She exclaimed in excitement. "No wonder you were in two places at once!"

"That's right! That teacher of yours has been doing a good job, almost too good. I really didn't know where you were, all I could do was wait for you to come out." He said sheepishly.

He took hold of her hand and began to head for home. It was almost sun-set, and now that Atsui really thought about it, they still hadn't had dinner.

"Daddy?" Atsui asked almost in a whisper.

"Hmm?"

"If I ever really did disappear….would you really just leave?"

Her father froze in his tracks. The sudden cease of movement startled her. He just stood there for a moment then crouched down to her eye level, and gazed into her eyes. Atsui stared back, noticing that his eyes suddenly had a pain in them. Had she said something bad? She didn't have much time to react. Her dad suddenly pulled her into a deep hug.

"I will never….ever….just leave you. I would give my life and search the ends of the earth until I was absolutely sure you were safe and happy."

His words were so filled with pain. It was heart-breaking; she had to do something to make him happy again. She hated it when people were sad. No one deserved to be sad.

"Okay then, if you are going to the ends of the earth then I will go to the ends of the universe to make you happy!" She replied sappily.

He gave a laugh and let go to look at her again.

"Oh would you now?"

"Oh yes I would! And if I can, I'll go even farther then that!" She held her arms out wide to emphasize just how important this was.

"Alrighty then, I'll make you a deal. I'll promise to stay with you and make sure you're happy if you promise to stay with me and make sure I'm happy. Is it a deal?" he asked her holding his hand out for a shake of approval.

"It's a promise!"

Promise…

The word echoed in her mind. She didn't want it to leave. It was the only thing still tying her to him, but like all good dreams it had to end.

Atsui just laid there in bed, desperately hoping the dream would continue. The trouble with dreams is that with the bad ones, you can always wake up and realize they aren't real, but with good ones, you always wish they were. It had been ages since she had had a dream about her father.

He had been killed five years ago, when she was about ten. A rouge ninja had infiltrated their family's estate. Her father had stood up against the menace to protect the family secrets and kekkai genkai. The Hisakata family's Bloodline Limit truly was a powerful one, and to fall into the wrong hands would bring great devastation, to not just the clan, but the Moon Village itself and its allies. The enemy's plans were brought to an end, but her father lost his life as well.

He had died valiantly and she could not be prouder of him, but she couldn't help but feel guilty of being selfish, for hoping that he hadn't and that he should have just retreated like everyone else. She missed him so much.

Her mother had died on mission when she was barely two. Sadly though, she has no recollection of her. Her father always said that she was a lot like her mother. How they acted, how they talked, how they cared for people. From how her father described her, she must have been an amazing person, and Atsui couldn't help but feel proud that she was turning out to be so much like her.

Atsui glanced over at the clock on the bedside table and yelped at the time it read.

"5:30! If I don't get going on those chores, I'll be late meeting Amaya and Uzu!" She said kicking the covers off and leaping out of bed. She quickly slipped out of her pajamas and pulled on her tank top and capris. She slid one arm through her jacket, grabbing her hair brush at the end and quickly popped the handle in her mouth. She pulled the other sleeve on as she made her way to the mirror and began to brush out her mangled bed hair. She dashed over to the bedside table and grabbed her head protector, and tied it together behind her neck letting the protector hang necklace style. She carefully pulled the knot tight, but made sure as to not to get any of her hair caught in the knot. Running back to the mirror she did a quick look down to make sure nothing was too obviously out of place. Being pleased with the results she headed out of her room and got straight to work on collecting the laundry baskets.

This was very routine for her. Ever since she was sent to live with her uncle after her father's death, she had been subject to doing all the daily chores. She didn't mind though, if she didn't do them, who else would?

Her Uncle was her father's brother, and also the head of the family. The funny thing is, as hard as she tries, she can never actually remember ever visiting her uncle when she was younger. I mean she had 'seen' him on a few occasions when she was younger, but had never ever had any actual contact with him. Her father seemed to keep her away from him and didn't associate much with him, himself. She learned why after just the first few days of starting to live here.

He does seem to have a some what violent nature, and his habit of drinking doesn't seem to help, but she decided early on that she would never bring her self to complain. It was very kind of him to let her stay and she sees it as being very fortunate that he has decided to be her guardian, and seeing as he is family, she has promised to show nothing but the utmost respect for him.

Besides, doing the chores made her feel like she was benefiting the family. After all, family is one of the most important things in the world isn't it? And what are a few chores anyways.

After promptly picking up all the laundry, she delivered them to the wash room and started the water. She went to the shelf and fished out the soap and began to pour it into the water. The water began to bubble as the soap hit surface. Suddenly, from out of the silence of the morning.

"SSSSUUUUUUUUIIIII!" an outraged voice called out.

Atsui cringed. He had used 'that' nickname again. That couldn't possibly be good.

"Sounds like Uncle Kushin is up." She muttered to herself trying to stay optimistic with the situation.

She left the wash room and quickly came to her uncle's room and tapped on the door.

"Yes Lord Kushin?"

"Wha?...who is it? Ehh come in so I can see you!" he barked. She could tell he was in one of his hangovers.

Atsui slowly opened the door as if it were a ticking time bomb ready to go off at the jerkiest of movements.

"It's Atsui, you wished to see me?"

"Where is breakfast? You trying to kill me, cause I'm starving in here!?" He shouted while still lying in bed. A wave of relief ran through her, but she stayed on her toes. Just because he was lying down now, didn't mean he wouldn't get up at a moment's notice, and if he got up, it could spell big trouble for her.

"I was…just going to start it after I…got the laundry going."

"Do you think I care about laundry? No! I'm hungry now! And you better not burn it this time either! You must be the worst cook in the world. I don't see why I even keep you here, but I guess good help is hard to find these days…YOU'RE STILL HERE! ARE YOU STUPID! GET MOVING!" He ranted each word would get louder. Atsui could see he would only get angrier the longer she stayed.

She darted out and shut the door tight behind her. The stress of the situation came flushing out as she leaned up against the door and sank to the floor until she was sitting. Certain doom had just been narrowly escaped for sure.

He seemed to be getting angrier with her every day. It was getting harder to get out of these situations. She was very lucky this time.

She sighed.

"Well I'm not getting anything done just sitting here." And with that she headed for the kitchen.

Every second counted, the longer she took, the angrier her uncle would get.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay" she sighed, "here we go!"

It was a failed attempt in getting her confidence up enough to try and cook. Her uncle was right about one thing, she really was a bad cook. If there was a way to burn water, she would probably find it. Almost all of her dishes ended up looking like something from a sci fi alien movie or came out blacker then ink.

She went to the fridge and examined the contents. From the looks of it, she needed to make another grocery run, and soon. There wasn't all that much to work with, but she was grateful to spot a package of eggs, a few strips of bacon, and just enough milk left for drinking. She loaded her arms up with the assorted breakfast items and bumped her hip against the fridge door to shut it.

She started up the stove and placed a pan on it that she had managed to find in one of the cupboards. It was a little large, but it was the only one she could find.

As it started to heat up, she cracked the eggs on the rim and let them slip from their shells into the pan then slid the bacon strips in next to them. It would take a few minutes before she had to flip them, so she figured now would be a good time to check on that laundry.

She left the kitchen and headed for the washroom again. As she rounded the corner, she froze in shock. The entire hall way was filled with bubbles. A rain of complete panic poured down on her.

"THE WATER! I FORGOT TO TURN IT OFF!"

She quickly dashed for a closet and yanked out a mop and began to fight the soap-ish fiend back into the wash room, but the more she mopped them up, twice as many would pour out on to her.

"The only way I'm going put an end to this battle is to hit the source! To the Faucet!"

With that she plugged her nose and dove into the wall of bubbles now filling the wash room. It would be impossible to open her eyes to look around without getting soap in them. So she felt her way around until her hand made contact with the faucet and twisted it to turn it off. Fighting her way back out, she collapsed on the floor after making it out of the wall of suds. In bliss of her victory, she took a big inhale of soap free air as a reward. Her happiness was short lived though, for a strange aroma unexpectedly filled her nose.

"What is that?"

Sitting up from where she was laying, she looked around and noticed a thick black cloud coming from around the corner.

"Smoke?" What could be causing smoke? Then it hit her.

"BREAKFAST! OH NO!"

She leapt up from the floor and rounded the corner again only to be engulfed in black smoke.

Wheezing from the toxic air, she got to the kitchen and turned the stove off. She grabbed for the pan handle, but suddenly felt it's intense heat sear across the bottom of her hand.

"Ah!" She yelped and threw the smoking pan in a near by sink full of water. The room almost immediately became much easier to breathe in.

Atsui looked down at her hand. A bright red mark was left there, and she could still feel the painful heat in it. Looking for some relief, she went to the sink and turned it on so it would gush cold water. Tenderly, she placed her burn under it. She gritted her teeth as it made contact with the cold liquid. She sat there for a minute, letting the heat seep out of the burn under the cool water. Her eyes caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window. A rather pathetic image looked back. She was soaking wet and now had various patches of ash covering her. She let out a sigh. That was the last thing she needed, to take up more time with getting all cleaned up again.

Suddenly something slammed into her head. The room started to spin, as she fell to her knees holding her head.

"I give you one simple task and I wake up to find my house in shambles!"

The guillotine had fallen, he was up, and he knew about the mess.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll clean it up! I promise!" She quickly apologized hoping it would count for something.

It was in vain though, another blow came, hitting her in the side this time, knocking the wind clean out of her. She gasped for air, but her lungs just didn't want to seem to listen.

"ONE! TASK!" He yelled again.

Suddenly her head was being pulled up, but it was painful. He had grabbed hold of her hair, and was forcing her to follow its lead causing her to stand up.

"This had better be cleaned up before you even think of leaving to see those brats you call friends." He hissed and pushed her down back to the floor.

She was finally starting to be able to breathe again and managed to sit up, but couldn't bring herself to look into his terrifying eyes.

"Yes….sir….of…course…" she rasped out, coughing between each word.

He made a sudden movement. Atsui cringed, preparing for another punch or kick, but was surprised to hear footsteps as he left grumbling.

She rubbed her side trying to make that lingering ache go away. He had nailed her right between the ribs. She stood up, but regretted it instantly. The room started to spin again. Her hand shot to the back of her head where he had hit her. She felt around her scalp and felt a good sized lump. He must have really hit her hard to leave one that big. Taking a deep breath she stood up, only wobbling a few times but was successfully able to leave the kitchen. She stopped at the corner of the hallway and looked over at the river of bubbles that still covered the hallway, then back at the blackened door frame of the kitchen.

"Yep, definitely not going to have time to shower." She sighed.

"She's late." Amaya stated blandly sitting atop one of the training posts.

"Point out the obvious there Amaya?" Uzu sarcastically remarked looking up at her from leaning up against the same log.

The remark seemed to have no effect on her, for she retained her usual un-emotional stare at an invisible object that was across the open field.

Since the day he and Atsui had befriend her; she almost never showed any emotion. He had to admit that at first he was absolutely terrified of their psychic friend. She did have a rather dark appearance and received quite a reputation of being mean and scary in the academy. Not to mention her 'curse' as she calls it, to make your mind see what you're most afraid of or make you re-live a horrible past event, made it all the more worse for her to get close to anyone.

For some odd reason or other though, Atsui had been able to get past that and find Amaya's caring and loving side; instantly becoming a life long friend with her. Of course, then again, that was Atsui for you. She was an absolute sweetheart but could be so oblivious sometimes, it was a wonder that she passed through the academy, with flying colors none the less.

"It must be him again." She responded after the few minutes of silence between them.

Uzu's face shot her a look of malice.

"It had better not be. One of these days I gonna…"

"Uzu…you know that we aren't allowed to meddle with the situation. As much as I'd like to torture the mind of that sack of filth" Her eyes began to glow with that evil black aura that appears when she activates her powers but faded almost as quickly as they had started. "But the Mizukage has forbidden us to get caught up in the affair. She has warned us that…"

"That interfering with Kushin's business will only make him get angrier, and make him take it out more on her and even might push him to the limit of taking their entire family somewhere else and how that would only make it worse by making it so there aren't people around her that will be able to look out for her. I know, I know."

Uzu had practically grown up with Atsui. She was like a little sister to him and her dad was like a second father. Obutso was Uzu's idol and he wanted to turn out just like him when he got older. He had been the first person to teach him how to use his swords.

At his funeral, Uzu promised that he would look after Atsui for him, but after she started living with her uncle, he felt his promise fall apart and become empty words that he could do nothing about. It seemed unfathomable to think that Obutsu and Atsui were even related to that man.

"It's just hard knowing what she's going through and not being able to do anything about it."

Their attention suddenly was caught by a movement. They looked over and saw Atsui sprinting up to the field. Something was different about her though.

"There you are! We thought you had disa…" Uzu trailed off as she got closer. Amaya jumped down of the post and walked up beside him as Atsui reached them. Their friend was covered in ash and appeared to be drenched with a liquid that smelled oddly enough of spring time flowers. This odd appearance brought a look of confusion to their faces. Even the usually blank looking eyes of Amaya, grew wide in shock.

"Sorry…I had a little more cleaning then usual to do this morning!" Atsui huffed with a grin.

"Atsui! What happened to you? You look like you just come from a battle in the land of the waves!" Uzu asked worriedly.

Amaya walked over and ran a finger across one of Atsui's cheeks. Letting the sticky liquid combine with the blacken material on her finger. She inspected it and sniffed at the estranged scent.

"Ash and…Laundry detergent...what exactly did you clean this morning Atsui?" Amaya asked in her monotone voice.

"Heh heh well the thing is, I started the laundry but my uncle wanted breakfast you see, so I had to go and start that but I guess I forgot to turn off the water so a ton of bubbles got every where and I had to fight those off with the mop, but then a huge cloud of smoke started coming from the kitchen and I incinerated the bacon and eggs I was cooking. So I had to clean up the kitchen, mop the hallway, do the laundry, go to the grocery store to get more food, because we were out, and then make breakfast all over again." She took a big breath, replacing the air she had lost in explaining her morning dilemma in one breath.

Uzu and Amaya continued looking at her in utter shock. Uzu was the first to break the silence.

"Ha ha ha! Okay well let's get you cleaned up." he chuckled picking her up and sling her over his shoulder and started walking.

A look surprise sprang to her face; shocked by her friend's sudden action.

"Where are we going?"

"My house, you can use the shower and I'll lend you some pants and a sweatshirt to wear."

"But…but…what about training? It's already bad enough that I made you wait so long…I couldn't possibly…you don't have to worry about me…it's just a little soap and ash…it's unfair for me to waste any more of your time…" Atsui stuttered.

She felt guilty enough for making them wait so long, and now she was burdening them to feel the need to take care of her for her own mistakes.

Uzu laughed.

"There is now way I'm going to be able to focus on my training if every time I catch sight of you, I start to laugh. You silly goose! How many times do you have to learn that you can't do thirty things at once? "He kidded poking her leg, still walking.

"It wasn't thirty! It was two! And you really don't have to! It was my fault. You shouldn't have to clean up my messes." She said trying to be defensive, but was getting no where with it.

Amaya came up behind Uzu and was now facing Atsui.

"Oh Atsui…That's what friends are for…" She said with hint of amusement in her voice and gave a rare little smile.

Atsui got a confused look at first, but couldn't help but smile too.

"Okay…A shower does actually sound kinda nice…" she said sheepishly with a blush.

"Oh and Uzu?"

"Yeah?"

"I can walk you know."

"You can?! I never knew" he replied sarcastically.

Atsui smiled, she was so happy. She had such wonderful kind friends who cared about her.


	3. Chapter 3

Atsui had to admit, it felt good to get clean. She didn't stick to everything that touched her anymore, and she didn't look like she had just climbed out of a stove. As much as she didn't like to worry about her appearance all the time; she did like to keep a nice, clean appearance.

There was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Uh, here's you some clean clothes and a towel." Uzu muttered from the other side of the door as he slid his hand in and placed clean clothes on the counter. The door shut rather quick, cutting off the last of his mumbles.

"Thank you Uzu!" Atsui chimed from the inside of the bathroom.

He returned to sitting with Amaya on the porch. She was engrossed in some little black book that she had been carrying around as of late. Mostly likely one of those horror books that she liked so much. She broke free from her entrancement just in time to catch his face burning a bright crimson.

"Are you going be alright Uzu? You look rather flustered." She teased menacingly.

"I'm fine, it's nothing."

There was silence for a few minutes between them, but he finally broke.

"Why weren't you the one to give her the clothes?"

"It's your house Uzu; I'm merely a guest here. Not to mention that heaven forbid your arm, of all ligaments, catch a glimpse of…"

"Okay! Too much information! I would never do that anyways! She's practically my sister and that's just wrong Amaya!" Uzu barked back defensively only to make his face burn a brighter shade of red.

Amaya just shrugged and went back to reading her book. Only to be stopped by the opening of the bathroom door. A cloud of steam escaped as Atsui came out in and hoodie and sweatpants, that practically flooded her. She had carefully wrapped her hair up in a towel and held her dirty clothes in her arms.

"All done! Thank you so much for letting me get cleaned up!" She chirped as she planted her self next to her two friends. A big grin spread across her face.

"Uh…Here let me…take those. I'll pop them in the wash for you and while we eat lunch they can wash and by the time we get done you'll be able to wear them again." Uzu exclaimed as he took her dirty laundry and head for the washroom.

"Oh thank you so much Uzu! I really owe you one!"

Atsui turned around to face Amaya, who she noticed was gazing intently at her hand with the burn on it. Atsui grimaced and quickly used her other hand to cover it.

"How'd you get that burn Atsui?" Amaya asked looking back up at her quite sternly.

"Oh heh heh, when I was getting rid of the food I burnt. I accidently grabbed the handle and it burned my hand. I just haven't had enough time to heal it yet."

Amaya kept a concerned gaze on her.

"Atsui, if there is something you want to tell me, I'd be more then happy to listen. It wasn't him again was it?"

Atsui's face flashed horror struck. She knew Amaya and Uzu had known what was going on, but it still bothered her to make them stress out over it. It was useless whining and all it would do is just add more problems to their life that they didn't need.

"Oh no, I just wasn't thinking and grabbed the hot handle is all. It's no big deal, just a little burn." Her hand started to glow white with chakra. It was only a little burn, so it wouldn't require that much to heal it. She slid her chakra infused hand over the burned skin and started to repair the scorch mark until it had completely disappeared.

"As much as that bloodline of yours helps; you need to realize that getting hurt is still getting hurt Atsui. You don't deserve to be treated like that." Amaya lectured.

"Don't worry about it Amaya, I'm okay. See?" Atsui reassured flaunting her newly healed hand at her.

Amaya just sighed. She couldn't help being concerned about her best friend.

'You're just trying to be brave to protect me and Uzu. Why can't you ever think of yourself Atsui?' This phrase had echoed through Amaya's mind ever since they had found out about her uncle. Atsui had an unusual stubborn streak when it came to expressing her own problems to others.

"Hey! You two done gossiping cause this food is gonna get cold if you don't hurry up and come eat it!" Uzu shouted from the other room.

"…gossiping?..." Amaya seemed to seethe at the word.

"If that numbskull thinks I would participate in such a trivial affair, he'll have more to worry about then just cold food."

Atsui couldn't help but snicker.

"I'm sure he was just kidding. He knows we're not into that." Atsui reminded her.

Since she didn't get a chance to make herself breakfast; Atsui couldn't help but savor the lunch Uzu had prepared. He could be a hard head at times, but he had a wonderful sense of taste. It was still shocking that he still didn't have a girl friend. Though that was probably, partially due to the fact that he hung out with her and Amaya all the time; it probably gave off the appearance that he was going out with one of them. He seemed to be okay with that though.

Atsui was just about to bite into a lovely looking rice ball when they heard a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting someone today Uzu?" Amaya asked inquisitively.

"Don't think so, be right back." He stood up and went to go greet his guest. There were a few mumbles followed by Uzu running back to the kitchen.

"Atsui! That was one of the ANBU Black Ops. They said you've been summoned to go see the Mizukage this afternoon!"

"What?!" She yelped while slurping up a mouth full of noodles.

"Lady Mizukage wants to see you!" He repeated.

What could she have done to acquire a meeting with Lady Mizukage? Getting up from the table, she started to head for where her shoes sat.

"Uhh…uhh…Oh okay…uh…What time is it? 1:00?...Oh geeze! I better get going if she wants me there this afternoon!" She stammered in utter panic as she dashed around looking for her shoes.

Amaya stood up along side her and pulled her into a hug.

"Let us know what she discusses with you, if you can alright my friend?" her words seemed to help. This meeting must be very important for the Mizukage to summon her on such short notice.

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll see you guys later!" She pulled her two friends in for a quick hug and started off on the road to the village center.

She really wished that they could have come with her. It would have been nice to have them by her side for support. Which brought up another question in her head: Why had Lady Mizukage only asked to see her? Usually, when she summoned her, she summoned one of her friends too, and it was almost always for missions. To call for her alone, was just so unlike Lady Mizukage. From the start, she had told all that academy students that they would sometimes have to be sent on challenging missions, but that she would never let one of them go alone. When she assigned missions; she always kept sure that there was a back up person or team aide them. This all just seemed so bizarre. Atsui tried to find some explanation for what was going, but the more she toyed around with it the more dead ends she found. She was so busy in thought that she nearly walked into the wall of the Mizukage's building.

'Okay Atsui, stay calm. You're just going in for a chat. Nothing big, just keep calm.' She kept thinking to herself, she needed something to calm her nerves. It wasn't necessarily the Mizukage, oh no; Lady Mizukage was a very understanding and calm person. It was just the idea of what was going to be said, that had her shaking.

She took a deep breathe as she approached the door, and very politely knocked.

"You're right on time, come in Atsui." A woman's voice kindly spoke.

The calmness of the tone seemed to disperse the dense fog of worry around Atsui. She opened the door, only to notice that her old academy sensei was standing there along with an ANBU Black Ops member, most likely the one that had been sent to notify her of the meeting.

She approached the desk that the Mizukage was occupying and gave a respectful bow.

"It's good to see Atsui. Now I've called you here for a very important reason. Have you ever heard of our village's 'Genin Transfer Program'?"

"I-I think so. Isn't it where we send a few selected genin to train in other villages to become stronger?"

"Very good, but it not only does that. As you can see, most of the qualified jounin in our village have to be sent out on a number of missions, and most don't have time to teach you and your fellow peers in teams. So we send many of you out to our allied villages to receive training. Also this program strengthens our connection with these villages, so we can help one another when needed."

It did seem like a good plan. The moon village was not one of the extremely powerful ninja villages in the land, and most unfortunately, was a very easy target for enemies. It was almost necessary to rely on the strength of the village's allies to protect them. With this plan, the village could loan some of its gifted shinobi to help the ally village out in exchange for protection when needed.

"I think I understand…but, Lady Mizukage…I don't quite understand why you asked me to?..." She started to ask.

"Atsui, have you heard of the Village Hidden in the Leaves?"

This was a rather obvious answer. The Village Hidden in the Leaves, or rather Konoha Village, was the Moon Village's biggest ally. This was surprising though, considering they had gotten into a war against each other many years ago. It had started when they were just starting out as Villages, although the reason as to what actually started the war, was long forgotten and still is not known.

The war had lasted nearly three years, but the Hidden Leaf Villages had the upper hand with its famous and powerful clans. Atsui had learned many of their names and abilities while at the academy. To think of such powers invested in actual human beings was truly mind buzzing. This shouldn't have seemed so strange to her, considering she came from a gifted clan as well, but to hear how these people use their Kekkai Genkai to overcome nearly impossible things, was inspiring.

The Moon Village really had no chance against them, until the first Mizukage decided to take the offensive by force and start recruiting gifted clans of its own. Her family, the Hisakata clan, had been one of them. Which, ironically enough, has a bloodline that deals with the moon itself as a chakra source and is extremely powerful in the eyes of others.

With these new clans' bloodlines, at the disposal of the village, the war became at an in pass. Neither side a greater advantage of the other, but both would not fall to the other. It became nothing but a slaughter of valuable shinobi. By this time though, the first Mizukage had died, and his predecessor now took control. For the good of both villages, he met with the leaf village's Hokage to declare a cease in the fighting and become allies in the process.

Over the years, they had been on shaky terms with each other, but now worked together in full cooperation.

"Yes I have My Lady, but I'm sorry to say I still don't…"

"Don't worry I'll get there. Recent news has come to me that our villages ally and friend has taken a drastic blow, and has lost many of its talented shinobi. As I stated earlier about the transfer program and how we must help our ally's in their time of need, I want you to go there and begin training with the Leaf village's most talented."

This came as a total surprise; nothing could have prepared her for it. The thought of leaving Amaya, Uzu, and the village itself, to go live with people that were most likely beyond her skill levels, was unbelievable. She could not even begin to form words, and express how she felt about the situation.

"I not only ask you to do this for your training reason alone, I ask too that you be a representative for the moon village to strengthen our tie with our friends in Konoha. It would greatly benefit our village as well as theirs."

Now this was a whole new concept. If she turned this down she would be failing her friends, her family, and her entire village. As much as it hurt to sacrifice her comfort of staying with them, she couldn't bare to think of letting them down, not to mention another kind village.

"I accept, and promise to try my hardest to represent our village, but this transfer…is it permanent?"

"You are given two choices at the successful end of your training. You can decide to come back here and use your newly acquired skills to help our village, or you may remain with that village. You don't have to decide until you have finished though, so you will have plenty of time to think about it, and you are welcome to come back and visit in between training and the missions they assign you."

This was comforting to know. At least it meant that she would never be able to see her friends again, and who knows they might even get sent of missions to help her and her foster village out too.

"Then I am certain that I will accept…but…" It suddenly hit her…her uncle…how would he take this new change?


	4. Chapter 4

The Mizukage seemed to sense her unrest.

"You're worried about your uncle aren't you?"

Atsui's head drooped; this conversation suddenly became very awkward. Atsui couldn't even make eye contact with her.

"I'm just worried about how he will take it. This is a pretty drastic change, and he may not be too happy about it. What if he won't let me go?"

Lady Mizukage got up from her desk and approached Atsui, placing her hands on her shoulders. She gave Atsui an assuring smile.

"That's why I'm going with you. To interfere with this mission would mean treason against the village and serious consequences would have to be put to action. I will come and see to it that he understands the seriousness of this situation."

Atsui felt better about this now. She was so relieved that she would not have to break this bad news to him alone. He would have gone ballistic, and who knows what he would have done to her if they were alone.

"Thank you Lady Mizukage, for everything and I really will try my best."

"I know you will. Now, could you go downstairs and wait a few minutes while I get ready?" She asked.

"Of course and thank you again." Atsui bowed in dismissal and left.

"I can't help but feel awful about making her leave her friends Lady Mizukage. She has grown to love them like they were her own family." The academy teacher expressed.

"I know, but this will be good for her and it was the only way to get her out of that maniac's reach without it seeming to obvious of my trying to get her out of there. Have your teams found any evidence at all that I could use to convict him without putting the entire clan in potential ruin?" Her conversation quickly directed to the ANBU member.

"Nothing, he may be an animal, but he is an animal who knows how to cover his tracks. I'm sorry Lady Mizukage."

She let out a grumble of dissatisfaction.

"This plan will have to do for now, and from what I've heard from my good friend Lady Hokage; I'm sure Atsui won't have much trouble making friends."

Atsui was right; her uncle really hadn't taken the news well. She and the Mizukage had been standing before him for nearly and hour now as he raved about his rights of the family.

"You can't just come in here and start sending my clan members to some other village who can't even control their own shinobi from destroying their village! Atsui is part of my clan! I will not allow you to just waltz in here and take over!" he roared at her.

"Kushin! You WILL let her go, you WILL not interfere in anyway, and you WILL! Stop yelling at me. As the Mizukage, I have the higher power here, not you." Lady Mizukage remained calm, but there was definitely an ice to her tone now.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE! And as far as I can see…" He shouted as his bloodline began to boil. Their clan's trademark glowing symbols began to crawl up his arms.

"I'm the one with the higher power!" He gave a devilish grin.

Atsui began to shake. This conversation was taking a turn for the worst. She had never seen him this scary; ever! She shyly hid herself behind Lady Mizukage, who was having very little trouble standing her ground; not even flinching at his threat.

"Atsui…" She quite calmly said.

Atsui jumped a little at the sudden attention of her presence in this heated discussion.

"Y-Yes Lady Mizukage?"

"Go collect you're things. You'll stay with your friends tonight and set out tomorrow."

"DON'T YOU DARE MOVE ATSUI HISAKATA! OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!" He barked at her.

Atsui stood there terrified. She desperately wanted to get out of there, but it would be suicide to invoke her uncle's wrath while in his current state. Suddenly something gripped her shoulder, making her jump. She looked to see that it was Lady Mizukage's hand.

"Its okay sweetie, just go get your things. I will finish up here and I'll walk you to your friend's house."

Atsui knew she could trust her and decided to do as she told her. She slowly moved towards the door. Kushin became blind in fury, seeing that he was losing this fight.

"YOU TRECHROUS LITTLE WRETCH!" He roared, grabbing one of the nearby decorative vases and threw it in her direction. The Mizukage reacted. Suddenly appearing before the flying vase, she blasted her fist through it causing it shatter before it could come within five feet of Atsui.

"Go Atsui, I'll be done in just a second." Lady Mizukage reassured, then turned to Kushin.

Atsui hesitated.

"GO!" She shouted this time.

Atsui quickly shut the door and ran for her room. She flung herself inside slamming the door shut behind her and leaned up against it. Her heart was racing from the terror of being in the middle of it all. Tears started to stream down as she cupped her hands to her face and began to cry.

It was all just too painful to hold in anymore. She didn't want to leave Uzu and Amaya, they were always there when she needed them, and they knew how to make her forget her troubles. She didn't want to leave the village either. She had grown up here, and no other place could possibly compare to being home then here.

But she couldn't just let her village down. It was selfish of her to choose comforts over the village's alliance with this other village. She would be putting so many lives in harms way. She would be putting Amaya and Uzu in danger.

She wiped her tears away and started to get her stuff together. It wasn't an option; she had to go. It meant protecting the ones she cared about. She placed the last few things in her bag and took one last look over her room to make sure she had gotten everything. It had only been this morning that she had been happily sleeping in her bed and now she would probably never see it again. With a last sigh of despair, she shut the door behind her.

She and Lady Mizukage walked down the path to Uzu's house. There was total silence except for the sound of their foot steps along the ground. That was okay; Atsui really didn't feel like talking anyways. Uzu's house came into view with what looked like two people sitting on the porch. As they got closer, she noticed it was Uzu and Amaya. Uzu was the first to spot them. Leaping off the railing he had been sitting on and ran part way. But came to a halt as he noticed how upset she looked. A bolt of worry came to his face. Amaya came walking up behind him and gave her the same reaction. Atsui couldn't stand it anymore. She ran up and clung tight to them, letting herself cry again.

"Atsui? What happened? Are you okay?" Uzu frantically started asking questions. Atsui just pulled them in closer and let the tears run.

"Would it be alright if Atsui here stayed the night? She has had a rough day, and needs to be with you guys. I'm sure she will explain the situation to you."

Lady Mizukage patted Atsui on the shoulder.

"It's going to be okay Atsui, you're doing a very brave thing that will help both our village on the leaf village out. We could not even begin to thank you. I'll send a few ANBU Black Ops with you for part of the journey, okay? Please take care."

With that she left.

"Atsui?..." Amaya asked worriedly

Atsui pulled away and wiped her face on the sleeve of her jacket.

"I'm sorry I made you wait again, and I guess I better tell you what's going on."

"Oh its okay we don't mind. How about we go inside, have a nice cup of tea and you can tell us what happened. Sound good?" Uzu said pulling her in for another hug.

"That sounds really nice, thank you."

Atsui told them everything that she and Lady Mizukage had discussed. Uzu and Amaya sat there letting each detail slam into their hearts.

"How long are you supposed to stay there?" Uzu asked.

"I really don't know. Lady Mizukage said I could come back when I have completed my training, and she said I could visit when I have some down time there." She replied before taking a sip of her tea.

"So it's not all that bad. You could still come visit us!" Uzu tried to stay optimistic about it, but deep inside he didn't want her to go at all. How was he supposed to make sure she would be safe and happy when she was miles and miles away with total strangers?

Amaya couldn't help but feel the same way. Her dear friend had had enough trouble today, and this just seemed to be the last straw.

"I know this is for the village and I want to do anything I can to help but…" her eyes welled up with tears again.

"I really don't want to leave you guys. I'm so scared. What if I just end up being a burden to them and fail our village in the process?"

Amaya scooted over and pulled her friend into a comforting hug.

"You're never a burden Atsui. You're a good person with a good heart and mind. I'm sure they will see that, because you show it every day here. Uzu and I will miss you dearly, but we understand that you're doing this for our benefit."

"Yeah Atsui, we know you'll do a wonderful job helping them out, and you can always write to us and tell us how your doing and all the new people you've met. Not to mention you can tell us about all the new fighting moves you learn too!" Uzu said optimistically.

"Thank you guys! I love you guys so much." Atsui smiled. That had taken a huge weight of her shoulders.

"Now I say we head to bed. You've had a pretty stressful day and could probably use some rest before you head out." Uzu pointed out just as she let out a yawn.

"My point exactly, I'll go set up the guest beds for you and Amaya."

Atsui laid there staring up at the ceiling. Tomorrow she set out for the Leaf Village. She wondered what it would look like. What the people were like and what their lives were like.

She began to go over everything that she had learned in the academy about fascinating place. There was so much: the clans, their famous three sannin, something about a 4th's legacy and the defeat of a great demon fox. It was all so exciting. Sleep seemed impossible, but she eventually closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Atsui woke up unusually late that morning; she was almost always an early riser. Amaya and Uzu had already woken up and were at the table eating breakfast.

"Good morning sleeping beauty!" Uzu joked pouring more cereal into his bowl.

"Good morning. Hey, how come you guy's didn't wake me up?"

"We figured you could use the extra energy for your journey to the leaf village today." Amaya explained cleaning up her dishes.

"Oh! Thank you then." Atsui replied taking a seat next to Uzu and made herself some cereal. This was a meal that she could get down to a fine art; no heating up needed and it required only four items: a bowl, a spoon, the actual cereal, and some milk.

Atsui took a bite, while scanning the room, then swallowed.

"Uzu, I haven't seen your parents at all. Are they here?" She asked him.

"Oh, they left on a mission about three days ago. They're actually coming home this afternoon."

Parents. That reminded Atsui. She needed to go visit her dad today. Since she would be leaving, she probably wouldn't get to visit his grave for awhile. She quickly finished eating and went and got dressed. As she headed for the door she remembered to tell her friends that she was leaving.

"I'll be back in a little bit guys, I've got a few things to do before I head out."

"Say 'hi' to Obutsu for us!" Uzu called from the kitchen. He figured she would want to go visit her dad's grave before she had to leave.

"Okay, I'll see you in a little while! Bye!"

Atsui had made it a habit to go visit her father's grave at least twice a week and let him know what the latest news was and report on her training progress. It may have seemed odd for her to talk to a grave, but it made her feel that she was still connected to him. It was going to be hard to not come here and visit for awhile. She would miss how quiet and serene it was. She came to the headstone with her father's name written on it.

"Hi dad, it's me again. I've come with some very important news." She said aloud to no one. For the next half hour, she relayed the situation to headstone. Stopping only a few times to hold back the tears that wanted to come out; she had to show him that she was going to be brave about this whole thing.

"So I won't be able to visit for quite awhile, but I'll think about you everyday." This conversation was getting all the more difficult.

"I love you dad and I miss you so much. I'll try my hardest to make you proud. Please watch over Uzu and Amaya for me. Good Bye." And with that she left. She stopped at gate entrance and looked back at where she was. She was going to miss him so much.

As she reached Uzu's house, she noticed that Lady Mizukage was there with her friends and two ANBU Black Ops had accompanied her.

"Ready to go Atsui?" She asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be I guess."

Amaya handed Atsui the bag she had packed her stuff in the night before. Uzu pulled her in for one last hug.

"You stay strong okay? Don't let those Leaf Nin push you around okay? I'll have to come beat them up if they do." He kidded.

Lady Mizukage gave him a frown of disapproval, but he ignored it. No one was going to hurt her with out paying for it.

"Yes, and do write us as much as you can. I am curious as to how they treat you there as well." Amaya added as Atsui came over and gave her a hug good bye too.

"I'm sure they'll be nice and I promise I'll write to you every week."

Lady Mizukage handed her a scroll, a wrapped package, and a few maps.

"The ANBU Black Ops here will guide you half way then you must go on your own from there. Here are some maps to help you get to the village and a map of the village itself. You'll need to go to the center of the village to reach the Hokage's office. She will be expecting you. Make sure to give her that scroll and package. It's very important that she be the only one you give them to. From that point on she will help get settled in."

"I understand, thank you." She bowed to her then placed it all in her bag.

"We had better be going Atsui. If we don't you won't make it there before sundown." One of the masked ninja stated as they started to walk away.

"Right, okay. So I'll hopefully be seeing you guys soon. Good Bye" Atsui called as she ran to catch up.

"Good Bye my friend! Take care!" Amaya called and waved good bye.

"Show those Leaf Shinobi what this village can do Atsui!" Uzu gloated.

Atsui kept on the path. The ANBU had left her about an hour ago. They had been traveling for quite awhile; nearly two hours to be exact. They told her that all she had to do was keep going on this path for about another two or three hours and she would run into a large wall with a huge gate that was the border of the village.

Atsui kept looking ahead for any sign of a wall, but all she could see was the path ahead of her and lots of trees.

She kept a wary eye about, just incase there was anything that might cause her strife, but didn't sense anything.

After awhile she decided to pull out her map to check how far she was from her destination. She calculated how much time it had taken to get this far and estimated how far she had traveled in that time. From the looks of it she was only a little ways away. She looked up ahead again and squinted. There it was! It was rather faint line, but most definitely a wall.

She kept up a quick pace until she reached the entrance. The archway for their gate doors was huge. She nearly tipped over backwards from looking up so far.

"Can I help miss?" a voice called from the right of her. She looked over and noticed a small booth with a man in it. He had his head protector tied like a backwards bandana, with the knot in front, and was chewing on a senbon needle.

"Oh, I was sent here. I'm supposed to report to the Hokage's office." she asked as she approached the man at the booth.

He gave her a confused look, until he caught site of her head protector.

"Aw, you're the new genin from the Moon Village aren't you?" he asked.

"Oh uh yes, I am. My name is Atsui Hisakata." She introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you Miss Hisakata, the name is Genma Shiranui. Welcome to Konoha Village." He replied.

"Thank you. Oh, if you don't mind, could you point me in the direction of the Hokage's office?" She asked remembering her task.

"Not at all, you'll want to head down this road, turn left and go down that road…" He continued to explain, but just ended up making her more confused.

"Got it?"

"I-I think so and thank you again." She called back as she headed for the road he had first pointed out.

The truth was, she hadn't got any of the last few directions he had told her, but she didn't want to be rude and ask for them again. She came to a split in the road and decided to turn right.

As soon as she made it around the corner, her mouth gaped in amazement at what she saw. The village was huge and there were hundreds of people scattered throughout the street. She had never seen buildings so big before. I mean sure the Moon Village had its few big buildings, but they couldn't even compare to these ones and the number of people on the street was mind boggling. Did all these people live in this one village?

Atsui tried to cap her wandering mind, and stay focused on finding the Hokage's office, but it was just so breath-taking.

Finally getting over the shock, she continued walking. Turning every which way so often, until she was pretty much convinced that she had gotten herself totally and utterly lost within this massive village. She consulted her map, but with no further success. She sighed in despair; only the first day here and she was already failing miserably.

"Maybe I should just ask someone." She said to herself as she looked around for someone who might be able to help her. She had left the one main road she was on, and was on a less busy street. No one seemed to be there, until she heard voices come from what looked like a small food stand nearby.

"I swear it's here somewhere! Rrrgh! Come on! Where are you, you stupid coupon?! Can't you just give me a small bowl while I look for it? I promise I have it!" a boy's voice whined.

"Sorry Naruto. No coupon, no ramen." Atsui presumed that was the stand owner's voice. She approached the stand and moved its banners to walk inside. She noticed a boy with bright blonde hair in an orange jacket and pants, emptying his pockets.

"Aw! Welcome! What can I get you young lady?" A stand owner asked.

"Oh, I uh, I couldn't help but hear, and I don't mean to interfere with other's business, but…" She looked at the boy.

"Would you like me to buy you some ramen while you keep looking for that coupon you mentioned?" She asked the boy politely. She couldn't help but feel bad for him; he looked like a nice guy.

The boy looked up with a look of shock on his face. He suddenly made a dash for her. He wrapped his arms around her with a deadly grip, and lifted her off the ground and started swinging her to-and-fro.

"You would really do that?! Oh thank you so much! Thank you…" He paused for a second setting her down and took a look at her. She stumbled over to one of the stand's stools and sat down gasping for air.

"Hmm, I don't think I've ever seen you here before, what's you're name?" He asked looking intently at her while scratching his head.

Atsui had caught her breath by this time. She looked back up to him and gave him a smile.

"My name is Atsui. Atsui Hisakata. I'm new here."

"I knew I hadn't seen you before! Well the name is Naruto Uzumaki, Leaf Ninja, and future Hokage of the Leaf Village!"

Atsui smiled and held out her hand.

"It's very nice to meet you Nartuo Uzumaki! How about we get us some ramen to eat and you can tell me more about this place?"

Naruto took her hand and shook it excitedly.

"Deal!" He replied in total bliss of getting to eat ramen.


End file.
